DC Alterverse: Maxima
by Luiz Prata Oliveira
Summary: Princess Maxima, of the planet Almerac, elects Superman as her potential consort. Her plans, however, run into resistance from both Superman himself and his wife, Lana Lang. And some unexpected outside interference.
1. Chapter 1: Watched?

Metropolis.

After an after hours celebration at the Ace O'Clubs bar, some workmates of the Daily Planet newspaper share a farewell before returning to their respective homes: Clark Kent (secretly the hero known as Superman) and his wife Lana Lang; Ron Troupe, who reunites with his wife Lucy Lane, who had just left a gym nearby; Cat Grant, who had announced her moving to National City; and Lois Lane, who was in a hurry to return to her apartment to see again her daughter Olivia (a six-year, red-haired cuteness) and her husband Jimmy Olsen (from whom Olivia inherited her fiery hair).

Clark and Lana walk to their apartment. Suddenly, Clark stops and his expression becomes serious.

"What's up, dear?", Lana asks, distressed.

"I have the impression that we're being observed". Clark looks around, combining his telescopic and X-Ray visions. No threat detected. "I didn't find anything. I'm probably paranoid".

About twenty blocks from where Clark and Lana have resumed their walk, a mysterious female figure murmurs to herself in an alien language:

"In the morning, Kryptonian. I'll see you in the morning."


	2. Chapter 2: A strange visitor

Next morning. Clark wakes up bathed by the sun beams that recharge his energies. At his side, Lana still sleeps. His sensible hearing detects a noise in the living room. Arriving there, he sees a tall woman, with defined muscles, large wavy ginger hair a bit redder than Lana's. She wears metallic green top and trousers; golden shoulder pads, boots and gloves; a red belt and a beige cape covering her back. Lana arrives next and is amazed by the presence of the strange visitor, who begins to speak:

"Na das'tya pranis Maxima..." She presses a button on her right glove and continues to speak. "Forgive me, I forgot to activate my translator. I am princess Maxima Pereztern, from planet Almerac. The royal family of my planet faces a grave genetic problem that affects the new generations, rendering them sterile. It's up to me to restore the noble lineage of Almerac and produce healthy heirs. Sadly, there aren't adequate partners there, what made me search through the cosmos. And I've finally found someone: you, Kal-El of Krypton!"

"It was you who was spying on me last night, wasn't you?", Clark asks.

"Yes. When I noted your suspicion, I opted for a strategical retreat, before you could detect me. But, back to my offer, what do you say? Do you accept to be my consort?"

"Your Highness, in case you haven't noticed, I'm already married."

"What? To that stunted figure by your side? I imagined she was a buddy, servant, whatever, but wife? Don't make me laugh, Kal-El! She isn't worthy of you."

Lana is indignant at the insults and revolts against Maxima.

"Who are you calling stunted, you-?"

Lana is interrupted when Maxima grabs her by the neck and lifts her.

"Do not even dare address me in this insolent way!"

Clark quickly frees Lana and opposes himself to the visitor.

"Violence won't help toy to achieve anything. Let's talk calmly, but not here."

"So well. Tell when and where, Kal-El. I have a map of this city and its surroundings on my portable computer."

"In the ruins of the Lexor Condominium, north of the city. It is a vast abandoned area, ravaged by clashes and toxic leaks in the ground. We'll have enough privacy. In half an hour."

"Agreed, Kal-El. Do not be late." After pressing a button on her left glove, Maxima disappears in a bluish teleport glow.

Properly dressed in his blue and red costume, Superman appears punctually at the assigned location. Lexor Condominium was one of Lex Luthor's investments, before his facade of philanthropic entrepreneur had fallen. Lex, however, hadn't worried about environmental issues. After several residents became ill, it was discovered that the soil was contaminated by highly toxic wastes. Lex tried to blame outsourced companies, besides hiring criminals to provoke confrontations in the area, creating a distraction and disrupting the work of environmental forensics. Today, it is a condemned and uninhabited area.

Maxima's voice makes itself present.

"Congratulations on your punctuality, Kal-El!"

Superman's voice shows some impatience.

"All right. Go straight to the point. I'm all ears."

"As I said before we were interrupted, your Terran wife is not an appropriate partner."

"You made your point quite clear. But I disagree."

"She may even seem appropriate. Now. But what about the future? What if you want to have children? You are likely to be genetically incompatible to procreate. Or, even if you are compatible, pregnancy may be _risky_ for her. Not to mention the question of _longevity_."

"Your argument _would_ even sound reasonable except for a few details. First: Having children is not essential for a marriage to work, but the feeling and harmony between the parties involved; Second, even though Lana and I may want children, we can adopt or resort to assisted reproductive technology, which, if I do not know, is very advanced here on Earth."

"It's also advanced in Almerac, but royal families are royal families everywhere: traditionalists. They want marriage, pomp and circumstance, as well as heirs conceived the old fashioned way. Think of my proposal. In Almerac, you would be a prince consort, with all the perks and possibility of being _king_!"

"I'm sorry, but-"

The speech of Superman is interrupted by the arrival of a gynoid of short stature, three eyes, four arms, artificial skin pink and violet robes of a servant of the royalty.

"This is Sazu, my robotic servant. I named her after my deceased companion maid. What happened, Sazu? Why are you interrupting us?"

"I detected a vehicle approaching, milady!"

In fact, a motorcycle engine is heard in the distance. The noise grows louder, until a green motorcycle piloted by a female figure approaches and parks a few feet from Maxima and Superman. The motorcyclist removes the helmet. It's Lana.

"Well, well, the stunted one appeared!"

Lana's first impulse is to charge against Maxima again, but she refrains herself to a verbal contestation only.

"My name is Lana Lang."

Superman talks to his wife.

"What are you doing here? It can be dangerous. Do you remember the way she treated you in out apartment?"

"I understand you want to protect me, but... This conversation between you and her also concerns my life! I couldn't stay out."

In order to shorten the interruption and resume the conversation with Superman, Maxima decides to soften her hostile stance toward Lana.

"In spite of my previous tantrum, I don't intend to harm Lana Lang. If she interests you so much, you can bring her to Almerac. I'm willing to tolerate an open relationship, Kal-El."

Lana is shocked by the proposal. _Wow, she left any notion of good sense back on her planet, 'cause really… _

She thinks of some improprieties to respond to Maxima, but Superman advances in a more polite, but emphatic way.

"I'm sorry, princess, but I'm monogamist. I love Lana and only her. I'm not open to anyone else."

"Apparently, I'll have to take a more persuasive stance."

"And what do you intend to do? Fight? Appeal to some kind of blackmail? Do you want a consort or a slave for your whims?"

Maxima takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment. Although not willing to go that far, she acknowledges that her arrogant and invasive attitude gave way to Superman to think otherwise. As much as her pride instills in her insistence, she knows, in the depths of her soul, that she must not.

"I won't force you to do anything you don't want. If it reassures you, my 'persuasive attitude' would be _undress myself_ to arouse your libido, but I see even that would be pointless. As much as I question your marital choice and still can't understand what you saw in the stunted Terran woman, a consort who doesn't want me would be of no use. I'll continue my search elsewhere." Maxima turns her look to her robotic servant. "Let's go, Sazu".

"But, milady...", the maid insists, "...will you give up like this? We still can-"

"No, Sazu, we can't. Obey and let's go!"

Before Maxima and her mechanic servant reach their ship, however, a powerful motor roar cuts through the air. It's a chrome-plated, jet-propelled space motorcycle, with a metallic skull adorning the front. Its pilot? The space bounty hunter known as Lobo, the last Czarnian alive (because he _killed all the others_; long story), wearing dark blue leather clothes.

He advances fiercely against Superman.

"Missed me, Big Blue?"

The hero tries to disengage, but the Czarnian drags him away. Suddenly, an explosion in the air opens a tubular portal composed of rippling luminous circles. Superman recognizes that formation:

"A Boom Tube! I didn't know you had a Mother Box." Superman refers to the compact, living computer used by the inhabitants of two planets: New Genesis and Apokolips.

"You'd be surprised with the resources I have, Big Blue!

Superman tries to free himself from Lobo, but the bounty hunter carries him through the Tube, which teleports them to another planet.

Before Maxima and Lana recover from the astonishment of Lobo's appearance, a huge shadow spreads across the area where they meet. When looking up, they see a huge, discoid-shaped spacecraft in various shades of gray, looking rusty in some places. The ship lands and a red-haired man emerges from it, sporting a horseshoe-type mustache, wearing a vest, open, with red leather and yellow edges, with brick-red trousers.

"Maxima!" Exclaims the stranger, smiling. "At last we meet again! I took the liberty of activating the translator so that we all understood each other."

Lana, in a low voice, asks Maxima:

"Do you know this guy?"

"His name is Vernax. It is a clone of Vartox, of the planet Valeron. He has the flaws, worsened, of the original and none of the qualities. I have already declined several of his seduction attempts, but he does not give up."

The visitor talks to Maxima.

"Princess Maxima of Almerac, for the thirty-fourth time, do you accept to be my consort?"

Lana is shocked by the situation. _Thirty-four times? Damn it! Maxima can have several flaws, but she still has more good sense than this guy!_

"By the thirty-fourth time: NO!" Maxima turns her face and begins to walk away. "Take your ship, turn around and go back to your planet."

Vernax grabs her by her right arm.

"No one tells Vernax what to do. And don't turn your back on me, woman!"

"Release my arm!"

"What if I do not want to?"

Turning deftly her body, Maxima unbalances Vernax and knocks him down. He stands up and advances against her, holding her two wrists. She smiles, distracting him, then hits him a knee in his lower parts, causing him to bend over and fall to the ground.

Suddenly, a bluish discharge, of very high voltage, reaches Maxima from the back. As she falls to the ground, she can only turn her head enough to see her attacker: Sazu, her robotic servant, firing the lightning bolt through a metal tip that came from her left hand.

"Sazu… You t-traitor… full of shi-"

The Almeracian princess faints before she can finish the sentence.

"Great!" Vernax celebrates, already recovered from Maxima's knee-hit. "Sazu, bring Maxima. And also the Terran woman. She'll be my concubine. What can I say? I have a thing for redheads."


	3. Chapter 3: Superman vs Lobo

Planet Staryl. In the sky of a blue-green, bathed by an orange sun, a Boom Tube opens. Lobo comes out of it, pushing Superman with the front of his space bike. Superman recovers, turning towards Lobo and hitting a powerful punch in the Czarnian, knocking him down from the flying motorbike.

During the fall, Lobo places the forefinger and thumb of his left hand in his mouth, emitting a shrill whistle. Obeying the sonic command, the bike flies to Lobo, positioning itself right below him.

"Nice hit, Big Blue! My turn."

The bounty hunter fires a button on his bike. The front of the vehicle rises and, through a cavity at its bottom, a small missile is launched. Superman makes a move to dodge it, but it isn't necessary. Lobo hadn't aimed him, but a dam a few miles ahead.

"You maniac!" Superman shouts. "There's an inhabited village a little ahead of the dam! People will die!"

"Not if you save them. I'll wait right here."

The missile hits the top of the dam, causing the leakage of a large volume of water towards the village. In super-speed, the hero dives into the ground, digging a channel to drain the water from the dam to an uninhabited area. He then retrieves the debris from the dam and uses his heat vision to weld them back, covering the hole. Flying in a spiral, he creates a whirlwind that sucks up the leaked water, leading it back to the dam.

His super-hearing detects another missile being launched, this time in another direction. Visibly annoyed by the distraction tactic used by Lobo, Superman flies to stop the second projectile. This one, however, had already been intercepted by a tall young woman, with short blond hair, wearing a white suit, with green accessories (belt, gloves, boots and cape). On the chest, a circular green emblem, with a white symbol similar to a letter S on the inside.

"The Czarnian is all yours", says the young woman.

"Oh, _frag_!" Lobo mutters. "I ran out of missiles!"

Superman, by all means, seals the lower ducts of the flying motorbike, using his heat vision. Lobo tries to throw a huge hook against Superman, but the hero grabs the hook and pulls Lobo to himself. The Czarnian tries to use his whistle to command the bike, but Superman grabs the vehicle and folds it around Lobo, tying his opponent.

"Well, Lobo, I'll ask you only once: where is the Mother Box?"

"You got screwed up on that, _bastich_! While you played the Samaritan at the dam, I _swallowed_ the damn stuff! Now, you'll gonna have to wait a few hours to retrieve it. And very dirty. Without the Boom Tube shortcut, yer return to Earth will take a long time!

A punch in super-speed knocks Lobo out.

The young superpowered woman who had caught Lobo's second missile reappears.

"Don't worry, Superman! While I placed the missile on a safe place, I contacted L.E.G.I.O.N., maybe they can give you a ride. They have ships with hyperspace propellers. And I heard they have a Green Lantern with them."


	4. Chapter 4: The escape

Maxima and Lana wake up in a cell, with grids of a kind of laser, lying on separate metal beds Maxima realizes that she's without her gloves and wearing handcuffs that inhibit her powers.

"Na'halia dast! Wa kraznia han!"

"How wonderful..." Lana grunts sarcastically. "They took the glove with your translator. Now I'm stuck in a cell with an alien who doesn't understand me."

"I do, Lana Lang. I studied the local language before approaching Kal-El. Easy to learn, compared to the seven languages spoken in Almerac. My telepathic abilities also helped. I only used the translator to avoid gaffes and misunderstandings. My mission is extremely serious, with no room for misunderstanding." Maxima gets up. "Now, I have to get us out of here."

"Get 'us' out? Glad you included me in your escape plans."

"I have no sympathy for you, Lana Lang, but nothing like the hatred I feel for Vernax. And nobody deserves the fate he holds for us. Nobody."

"Thank you for your consideration. Anyway, I've already called reinforcements, thanks to a transmitter built into my wedding ring."

Sazu approaches the cell. Lana feels the air weigh with the look of hatred that Maxima directs to her (ex-) maid. The harsh vocabulary that the princess of Almerac assigns to the ginoid shows that Maxima had learned well the local curses. _I didn't imagine that an alien princess could be so foul-mouthed, _Lana thinks_. Though, in the face of such a traitor, I can't blame her._

"You should to address such vulgar insults to Lord Vernax. After all, it was he who reprogrammed me. Besides his enormous powers, who would say, he is a great hacker."

"That's why he found me here on Earth. You revealed my location to him, you two-faced creature! When I put my hands on you, I'll smash your tin-can face and dismantle your circuits, hacked or not!"

"Save your effort, princess. The spacecraft's hyperdrives are in the process of heating. As soon as they are ready and the master gets rid of some unexpected intruders, we will take flight."

Sazu walks away and leaves. The "unexpected intruders" would certainly be the reinforcements summoned by Lana, but Maxima decides not to count on the good will of potential rescuers, preferring to free herself and Lana. The princess projects her handcuffed hands violently against the metallic edge of the bed in an attempt to break the shackles. No effect. She tries again. And again. And again. Uselessly.

Lana is without handcuffs. Certainly, her captor judged her harmless. Only her purse had been confiscated. She decides to try something, taking advantage of being underestimated. She asks Maxima to stand still and takes a good look at the handcuffs.

Despite the alien design, there do not seem to be any essential differences in comparison to Earth's handcuffs (except for the power-nullifying mechanism). Then she removes a hairpin from her hair, framing it in picklock form, at the sight of Maxima's incredulous gaze. Lana inserts one end of the hairpin into the single visible hole of the handcuffs.

Lana isn't proud to have been a rascal pest and troublemaker in her teens, but she can't deny that those years brought her some useful knowledge. Among them, the one to open the most diverse types of locks, including handcuffs (Lana gave much trouble to the then Sheriff Maisie Swan, of Smallville).

Extremely concentrated, Lana manipulates the hairpin with dexterity and precision, making subtle movements until she hears a CLACK. Like magic, Maxima's handcuffs open and fall to the floor.

"Not even a pair of alien handcuffs is a match for a Terran improvised gadget at the hands of a former juvenile delinquent."

"That was ingenious. Thanks."

"Not bad for a 'stunted figure', isn't it?"

"I underestimated you, I admit. Now we have to get out of this cell. Do you have a coin?"

Lana's hands are rummaging through the back pockets of her pants. She finds a quarter-dollar coin. Free of inhibiting handcuffs, Maxima uses her telekinetic powers to make the coin go through the bars of the cell and hit a button on the wall, disabling the laser grid.

Lana and Maxima flee, but less than a minute later, Sazu appears accompanied by two robots with long ray guns. Maxima is quick to protect her escape fellow.

"Behind me, Lana Lang!"

The robots shoot, but Max blocks the shots with a psychokinetic shield and easily disarms them, levitating one of their weapons into Lana's hands. While Maxima crushes one of the robots with telekinesis, Lana shoots at the other with the loaned weapon, hitting the joints and causing it to dismantle itself.

"Nice aim! Your youth must have been really exciting, Lana Lang."

Lana smiles at Maxima's comment. Of the robotic enemies, only Sazu remains. She fires an electric blast at Maxima, who dodges as she swiftly advances to the enemy.

"You won't catch me off-guard again, you scum!"

With her right arm, Maxima unleashes a powerful punch that breaks through Sazu's robotic face. Pulling her arm back, Maxima brings in her hand part of the inner wires and cables from the head of the gynoid, who falls to the ground.

Soon after, the two of them pass through a room where Maxima's gloves and Lana's purse are. Maxima picks up the items, hands the purse to Lana, and puts on her gloves.

"I'm going to teleport us out of here. Hold on to me."

Lana obeys, and after Maxima presses a few buttons on her gloves, a glow surrounds the two women, who disappear.

They reappear outside the ship (the range of the teleport isn't so wide, even more carrying two people). They see, in the distance, Vernax defeating the reinforcements summoned by Lana: Jim Harper, the Guardian; John Henry Irons a.k.a. Steel and Jose Delgado, the Gangbuster.

"Run away, Lana Lang! I'll deal with him. Take the laser gun with you in case of an emergency."

Lana nods and runs.


	5. Chapter 5: Superman and Superwoman

Planet Staryl. Superman thanks the woman who helped him.

"Thanks a lot for the help. I don't think we were properly introduced. Where do you know me and how do you speak my language?"

"My name is Luma Lynai, native to this planet, named Staryl. Your deeds are known in many places throughout the cosmos, Superman. About the language, I learned it in the interplanetary academy where I study, the Crucible Academy. The people there called me Superwoman, because of the 'S' in my chest. A reference to you, I think. The symbol is actually pronounced 'Na' and it means 'solar'. I had just arrived from Crucible. I took a few days off and decided to see how things are at home. Hence, I came across your heroic action on the dam and a Czarnian firing a missile to the northwest. What's up with this guy?"

"It seems that he wanted to keep me busy. I've had quarrels with him before, but this time someone hired him. I already suspected because, if it were personal, he would have focused on a direct fight. Then, my superhearing detected him mentioning to have received space credits of a certain Vernax, of Valeron."

Luma recognizes the name and is astonished.

"I know this scoundrel! He is a clone of another Valeronian, Vartox. Vernax tried to come at me overtly, insisting that I become the "queen of Valeron." To get rid of the bastard, I had to invent that the yellow sun of his planet was poisonous to me. Luckily, he believed, but I was prepared to play the sick if he wanted to test me. The last word I heard from him was that he had become interested in Princess Maxima Pereztern of Almerac."

"GREAT SCOTT! I know why he hired Lobo!"

At that moment, appears in the skies of Staryl a space cruiser of L.E.G.I.O.N. – Licensed Extra-Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network. It's an interplanetary law-enforcement organization under the command of Vril Dox II. The cruiser's door open and two flight-powered members leave the vehicle: Lady Quark– a pale-skinned woman with very short white hair, wearing a golden mesh from which emanate bright red spots– and Sodam Yat, a pink-skinned man with a short black mohawk, wearing a Green Lantern Corps' uniform. Using his power ring, Yat creates a green contention bubble around a still unconscious Lobo, while Quark takes the prisoner to the ship. After a minute and a half, Yat leaves the ship again.

"Lobo is already properly accommodated, Superman. The ship will take the Czarnian to our headquarters on the planet Cairn. I will accompany you back to Earth, using the energy of my ring to create shortcuts through hyperspace."

Before the door of the ship closes, the green-skinned blond Vril Dox II beckons briefly to Superman, who returns the gesture. Superman says goodbye to Luma with a handshake.

"Thanks for the help, Luma Lynai."

"You're welcome, Superman!"


	6. Chapter 6: Redheads battle

Maxima's powerful voice challenges Vernax:

"Time to face your destiny, Valeronian worm!"

Vernax picks up, in one of the cartridges on the sides of his belt, a weapon similar to a vaccine inoculating gun.

"I wanted to keep you alive for, well, you know, our 'wedding night'. But your insolence went overboard." The firing of his weapon pours a black cloud over Maxima. "This is a special strain of the virus that devastated much of the population of Almerac three generations ago."

To Vernax's surprise, however, the cloud has no effect on the princess. Maxima laughs.

"You're outdated, Vernax. My people have become immune to this virus for some time. The sterility problem of the men in my family is a hereditary fault, unrelated to the virus."

"In this case, I'm gonna have to play dirty."

Maxima advances against Vernax, but he activates a device (a small metal box with three buttons) on his hand: a neural disruptor, which causes in Maxima an intense mental agony. He had taken the device from one of the pockets of his belt, while Maxima explained her immunity to the virus.

Despite the immense pain and unbearable buzz in her brain, Maxima doesn't give in. Although in a much slower pace, she goes on.

"Impressive. I'll have to upgrade a level."

Vernax presses the middle button of the box, increasing the intensity of the disruptor. Max screams in pain. Her nose bleeds. Still, she advances. Even slower than before, but moving forward.

"How much determination! If there weren't two Green Lanterns in your sector already, you would be a serious candidate, so strong your willpower is. Let's try some more."

Vernax regulates the disruptor to the maximum level. The Princess of Almerac utters a cry even more piercing than the last. Tears stream down her face, now red. She twists her body, totally trembling, in agony. But she stands, without retreating.

A few meters away, Lana hears Maxima's screams. She looks back and sees the princess's heroic resistance. Then, she looks at the laser gun in her hand.

The Valeronian villain boasts about the agony of Maxima, who is about to fall to her knees, though she keeps on resisting. Suddenly, however, a shot hits the disruptor, dropping the device to the floor. He tries to locate the source of the shot and sees Lana running toward him, firing. The shots hit Vernax, but they do not hurt him.

"Stupid Terran woman! Don't you see I'm invulnerable?"

Lana knows, but rationalizes that even if she can not do damage, she'll at least distract him long enough for Maxima to recover.

Tired of the interference, Vernax fires the virus in Lana.

"Maxima can be immune to this virus, but your fragile Terran physiology certainly isn't. Why mess my hands with you, when the virus can do the job?"

Infected, Lana falls to the floor, instinctively putting herself into a fetal position, while purple spots spread across her skin. Max shouts in shock:

"LANA!"

Vernax picks up the disruptor from the floor and checks it to see if the device isn't malfunctioning.

"Hmmm... It's dirty and half scorched, but it looks like it's not broken. Very well, Maxima, we can now resume our -"

Before Vernax can finish the sentence and activate the device, Maxima hits him with a powerful punch.

"**ENOUGH!"**

Vernax's **effrontery** towards Lana awakens in Maxima a mixture of sadness, fury, and determination. Before Vernax fully recovers from the punch, Maxima hits him with another one, even more powerful. A third punch breaks the device, to Vernax's desperation. A fourth punch, drawn from the bottom up, projects the villain to the sky. Max takes a breath and flies up, picks up her opponent at high speed, turns around and returns to the ground, accelerating, keeping Vernax below her so that he receives most of the air resistance and the fall's impact, using him as a shield. The impact opens a crater and causes cracks in the surrounding ground, followed by a rumble, which causes some nearby buildings to shake. Vernax is unconscious; Maxima is standing.

Near Earth's orbit, a point of green light materializes and expands, forming an opening to hyperspace, from which Superman and Sodam Yat come out. Sodam's power ring warns him that he should attend the host planet of his Corps. Superman nods and both shake hands.

When Superman returns to the Lexor Condominium, he finds Vernax trapped in a metal pile that once was his ship. Steel, Gangbuster, and Guardian begin to get up. Maxima is in tears, carrying Lana in her arms. Superman's voice mixes sadness and urgency:

"We have to take her to a hospital! Or Star Labs, where they can-"

"There is no time. I know how to heal her. Let's go to my ship. I explain on the way."

On the way, Maxima reveals to Superman that her ship has a device called genetic compatibilizer, originally designed to temporarily adequate the genetic pattern of a potential male consort to the Almeracian patterns, in order to ensure he'd be able to procreate with Maxima. With a few minor adjustments, the compatibilizer could give Lana Maxima's immunity to the plague that infects her.

In Maxima's ship, the princess puts Lana in a kind of tubular stretcher, with advanced machinery, of light and clean design, around. Maxima activates some commands on the ship's machinery and main computer. She then directs Superman on how to complete the operation and lies on another tubular stretcher, to the right of the one where Lana is, closing her eyes. After the preparation stage, Superman activates the buttons that start the process. Circular beams of purple light run through the bodies of Lana and Maxima for one minute. Two cables extend from the sides of Maxima's stretcher, connecting to Lana's stretcher. The stretchers are sealed and a bluish fluid surrounds its occupants for a minute and a half, until draining. More beams of light pass through Lana and Maxima, this time for two minutes. As soon as the beams cease, Maxima opens her eyes, remaining on the stretcher.

"Ready. Your wife now has a genetic pattern similar to mine. The effect should last long enough to purge the virus and heal her."

The spots on Lana's body gradually begin to brighten. Her breathing and her rather irregular beats resume normal rhythm. In five minutes, she is fully recovered and regains consciousness. Lana hugs Superman and kisses him. Rising from the stretcher, Maxima watches and smiles.

Superman's superhearing detects a communication: Contacted by Steel, the Special Crimes Unit– led by Lieutenant Maggie Sawyer– took Vernax, who was properly held in the wreckage of his own ship, to the metahuman section of Blackgate Penitentiary. An extradition agreement was made with L.E.G.I.O.N. of Vril Dox II. Steel keeps Lana's bike in his workshop until she's ready to pick it up.


	7. Chapter 7: Leaving the wardrobe

After Superman thanks Maxima for saving Lana, the women reveal what happened during the period Superman was out. When Superman mentions that Vernax had hired Lobo, Maxima deduces that the treacherous Sazu had warned Vernax of the princess's interest in Superman, prompting the villain to hire the bounty hunter.

Maxima asks to speak to Lana alone. Clark nods and goes outside the ship. The princess, in a softer voice than usual, begins the conversation.

"Are you all right, Lana?"

"Yes, thanks to you. Thank you for saving my life."

"It was the least I could do, after you almost died for me. I was wrong about you when I told you that you weren't a worthy mate to Kal-El. Your altruism and courage are comparable to his. And, without superpowers, your bravery is even greater. You're the best mate he could have. Trying to impose myself between you and him was a mistake."

"Indeed. But I can't blame you for being attracted to him."

Maxima is silent for a moment, in visible embarrassment. She looks away briefly, until she decides to open herself to Lana:

"Actually, I'm **not** attracted to him. Nor to males of any kind. Actually, I'm... I think the word in your language is... _"__**lesbian**__"_.

Lana is shocked.

"But... But then... **WHY**? Why so much effort, so much obsession to find a _male_ partner?"

"The pressure of my family, of my people was so strong... Everyone hoping that Princess Maxima would bring an heir and save the lineage of the royal family. Every year, every month, every day the pressure increased. The pressure of a whole kingdom. From all sides. I never had the courage to tell anyone what I felt. And after a while..."A few tears begin to stream down Maxima's face. "I felt bad for being who I was. I felt guilty... And _even I _began to press _myself_ to live up to everyone's expectations, to bring this heir, to find someone compatible..."

"Wow! I couldn't imagine!" Lana is astonished and moved by Maxima's outburst. "No one should have to go through that. And depending on the type of suitor you would find, this could be even more painful!"

"Why do you think I chose Kal-El? It wasn't because of his genes, muscles, or powers. His _generosity_ and _compassion_ are famous throughout the universe. With him, I would know that I would be treated with dignity and respect. I know he wouldn't force me to do anything I didn't want to do."

"And now? Want to find another partner that fits this pattern?"

"No." Maxima, already wiping away her tears, is now more confident. "I've had enough! Your courage in confronting Vernax opened my eyes, Lana. He was far more powerful than you. But you weren't intimidated before him. And you inspired me not to bow to those who see me just as a potential _incubator_. From now on, I'm going to accept who I really am. As you say here on Earth, I will **leave the wardrobe!**"

Lana laughs and promptly corrects:

"The correct expression is_** "come out of the closet"**_. But "leave the wardrobe" sounds interesting, I admit. Anyway, congratulations to you for the initiative! It won't be easy to face your family, but I wish you good luck. And I hope you find a worthy _female_ mate."

"There are other options besides a direct confrontation. I don't need to go back to Almerac. I wouldn't be welcome, really. I received, some time ago, an invitation from an interplanetary academy called Crucible. I declined at the time, but the leader, Lys Amata, said that I would be welcome at any time if I changed my mind. As for finding a female mate, if she has _your_ qualities, Lana, I'll be satisfied."

Lana is surprised and flattered by Maxima's compliment. Then, Maxima goes to Superman, with whom she exchanges a friendly handshake. She knows he had overheard the whole conversation with his superhearing, but he was discreet enough to comment. He simply wishes her good luck.

Lana leaves the ship. She and Maxima said goodbye to each other, exchanging an affectionate hug and kisses on the cheeks. The Almeracian princess enters her spaceship and, finally, leaves for the space station of the Crucible Academy.


	8. Epilogue 1: Smallville

Smallville, Kansas. Two weeks after Maxima's departure. Clark and Lana visit Kent's farm. While Clark talks to his mother, Martha, about the recent events, Lana plays fetch with the dog Shelby (a lively five-year-old golden retriever), throwing him a tennis ball, which he enthusiastically picks up and brings it back to her, so that she could throw it again.

In one of the throws, the ball goes under the huge tractor of the farm, to which an angry Shelby insists on barking. After a cuddle in the dog, Lana decides to catch the ball, lying on the grass and stretching the arm under the tractor.

"Calm down, big boy, I'll get it..." The ball, though, is in a place that's difficult to reach. "Damn it! It's complicated..."

Clark offers to help, but it is not necessary: Lana lifts the heavy tractor, much to the surprise of everyone around, including Lana herself. Shelby retrieves his ball.


	9. Epilogue 2: Crucible Academy

Crucible Academy, twenty-four hours after the events in Smallville.

_Maxima Pereztern's audio diary, register #4072._

_I got contact from Kal-El informing that Lana now has superpowers, theorizing that the genetic compatibilizer probably has something to do with it. As I explained to him, the effect of the device really should be temporary, but there is something I didn't consider: the device was designed to match __**two**__ distinct DNAs, but it is possible that Lana, being married to Kal-El, had traces of his Kryptonian DNA in her body during the compatibilization, which must have caused an unforeseen effect. I asked if they wanted help in trying to undo that effect, but Lana refused, preferring to keep her new abilities. If so, I'm happy for her. I theorize that the probability of her having children with Kal-El has increased._

_As for my situation: as I imagined, my family disowned me after I had, as Lana would say, _**come out of the closet **– _or _"left the wardrobe"_, according to my automatic translator__. I might even have proposed a conciliatory solution, such as resorting to assisted reproductive technology or something like that, which didn't even go through the head of my overly traditional family, which seems to have stopped in time. But I preferred to settle __**my**__ life first. Prioritize __**my**__ well-being for a change._

_And the Crucible Academy, where I am now, was the best place to start this process. I was extremely welcomed by Lys Amata. She introduced me to my instructors and colleagues. The instructor Lyrissa Mallor, from Talok VIII, in particular, became a great mentor for me, kind of a blue-skinned surrogate mother._

_In addition to training and combat simulations to perfect our abilities, we also have meditation sessions, which have helped me become more and more focused. There are also moments to develop artistic expressions. I discovered a talent for sculpture that I didn't imagine I had._

_Among my colleagues, I found a female partner with whom I was eventually able to fulfill myself affectionately and develop a healthy relationship. By the way, she's entering the room now._

_End of record._

The partner Maxima refers to is the young Luma Lynai, also known as Superwoman, who had returned to the Academy the same day Maxima was admitted.

"I hope I haven't interrupted your record, Max. If you wish, I can come back later."

"Not at all, my dear! With you here, I have something much better to do..."

Maxima draws Luma to herself and kisses her passionately.


End file.
